The Killer Inside Me

1.5/4

Starring: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Simon Baker, Eilas Koteas, Ned Beatty

Rated R for Disturbing Brutal Violence, Abberant Sexual Content and Some Graphic Nudity

“The Killer Inside Me” is one of those annoying movies where everyone talks but doesn’t say anything.  That may work for classic literature, but not for a potboiler like this one.  Screenwriter John Curran doesn’t understand this, since he wrote this movie (based on the book by Jim Thompson) and directed the equally senseless “Stone.”  At least this one has a semblance of a plot (much as Curran tries to hide that fact).

Lou Ford (Affleck) is a sheriff’s deputy in a small Oklahoma town.  One day, he is sent to run a prostitute (Alba) out of town.  He meets her and after beating her, they discover that they both have an interest in S&M.  After a few weeks of nightly encounters, she tells him that she is being run out of town because the son of Chester Conway (Beatty), the richest man in town, is in love with her, and he can’t stand the shame.  Lou is intrigued by the fact that she’s getting $10,000 to leave, and he sets in motion his own plans to blackmail Conway for his own reasons.  Of course, doing that involves killing a lot of people, which he has no problem with.

It’s such a shame that an array of great performances is so totally wasted.  Casey Affleck, who was just known as Ben Afleck’s brother until 2007 (when he hit the big time with the one-two punch of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and “Gone Baby Gone”) is in top form as Lou.  Although he’s a nice normal guy from the outset, it doesn’t take long for us to realize that beneath that smile and pleasant disposition lies something severely twisted and rotten to the core.  Jessica Alba, whose talents are largely unrecognized, gives one of her best performances as Joyce Lakeland, the prostitute.  Although Alba doesn’t do nude scenes, she does technically bare it all (her breasts are always covered by her arms), and she is willing to show herself in some very compromising positions (these sex scenes are surprisingly hot).  She goes just as far with her acting, literally throwing herself into the role.  Those who think she has no talent deserve to sit through this, if only to see the few scenes that she’s in.  Ditto for Kate Hudson, who hasn’t done anything to be proud of since her star-making turn in “Almost Famous.”  If she ever wants to get back on top again, she needs to work at it like she does here.  Support is provided by reliable character actors like Ned Beatty and Elias Koteas, but Simon Baker is miscast.

The problem with the film is easy enough to identify.  The script is lousy, and acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom seems to think that there is some potential in the story.  If there is, he hasn’t uncovered it.  It tries to be a mix between a psychological thriller a la “The Silence of the Lambs” mixed with pulp noir.  Admittedly, that sounds more interesting than the film actually is.

As wretched as Curran’s script is, Winterbottom isn’t entirely blameless, since he makes some big mistakes as well.  For one thing, there’s no one for the audience to identify with.  Had we been able to identify with Lou (or anyone else), this would have been a deeply disturbing story that would be able to get under our skin.  But Winterbottom keeps everyone at an arm’s distance; I admired the acting, but I didn’t care about anyone.  Also, he mimics Antonia Bird’s technique of running light-hearted music over tense scenes, but to much less effect (and it didn’t really work for “Ravenous,” either).

The bottom line is that this movie is a stinker.  And, as if it weren’t bad enough, this film was given an R-rating by the MPAA.  Ironically, this is a film that deserves an NC-17 rating, which was given to Ang Lee’s much better film, “Lust, Caution,” which included similar scenes of graphic sex and violence.  Regardless, this movie sucks, whatever it’s rated.